Prologue
Awoken by the rhythmic sound of wailing alarms, he opened his eyes and sat up in the bed just as the room shook violently almost sending him to the floor. Somewhere nearby he heard what sounded like an explosion, muffled but still distinctive and the groan of straining, stressed metal. His mind still clouded by the residual fugue of sleep and in a haze a question nonetheless came to mind that begged to be answered.
Where the hell am I?
The room in which he found himself was small but still had enough room for another bed alongside his and a small "lounge" of sorts, little more than two seats around a table while opposite his bed was a large oval shaped metal door.
Getting up he rushed over to the nearby window and looked out upon the void of space, alive with streaks of flashing green and crimson laser fire and dozens of darting, sleek fighter craft swarming like mynocks around a power source. Further out he could see more ships, capital vessels, each one unleashing further torrents of laser fire at the ship he found himself on. The room shook violently again, another distant explosion reverberated throughout the ship, the sound once more muffled somewhat by the bulkheads. He needed to find out what was going on and fast or at the very least find a way to extricate himself from the space battle he suddenly found himself in the midst of.
Another pressing concern was his confusion but for now he was content with merely trying to survive, the rest could be worried about later.
Behind him the door opened with the hiss of working hydraulics and a man in the red and gold uniform of a Republic soldier entered, blaster in hand, the barrel emitting a faint whisp of smoke telling of recent use. Instinct kicked in at the sight of an armed individual and he readied himself to move into action, his muscles tensing but the soldier kept his pistol lowered.
'Good, you're awake, and still alive for that matter. C'mon we've got to move!'
'Who are you?' he asked. The soldier seemed to know him but he could not say the same of the soldier.
'Trask Ulgo.' he replied. 'I'm your bunkmate, of sorts. We work opposing shifts so that's probably why you haven't seen me around. Now get your gear we need to move.'
Looking down he saw he was only clad in undergarments and as he looked around the cabin for some clothes or at least a weapon Trask pointed impatiently to a footlocker near the viewport. Throwing it open he found clothes and several other items within and swiftly began to equip himself.
'What the hell is going on?' he asked as he jumped into a pair of trousers and began doing up the belt.
'We're under attack! The Sith ambushed us as soon as we dropped from hyperspace, tore right through our shields with the first volley. Now hurry up, we need to get to the bridge and help Bastila.'
For a moment in the back of his mind he was sure that was a name he had heard before but no matter how hard he thought nothing came to him.
'Bastila?' he asked at long last as he retrieved his own blaster pistol from the footlocker, holstering it on his hip as well as a sword that fitted in a rung on the opposite side of his belt.
'Did you fall out of your bunk and hit your head?' Trask asked, a genuine look of concern on his face. 'She's the Jedi in command of the Endar Spire and our mission.'
'Yes, of course, how stupid of me.' he replied, though in truth the gaps in his memory were still rather vast much to his concern.
Trask looked at him curiously as he finished getting ready, slipping on a pair of worn boots and finally a leather vest over his white shirt.
'Look, I've read your records, I know you're not a soldier but they say you can handle yourself in a fight and we need all hands on deck here. You with me?'
Despite not having the faintest clue about his present situation or the circumstances that lead to it he decided it was best to follow Trask for the time being. 'Let's go.' he said.
'Okay, follow me to the bridge and keep that blaster handy. Sith boarding parties are everywhere.'
Drawing the pistol again with a twirling flourish, an automatic rather than intentional action he grinned sheepishly at Trask before he raised the blaster and signalled he was ready with a curt nod.
'With me, Lycanthus. Stick close.
Lycanthus. Yes, that was his name. How could that slip his mind? He really did begin to wonder if he had taken a blow to the head after all.
As Trask keyed in the access code and the door slid apart once again the pair of them hurried on, the sound of blaster fire emanating up ahead and Lycanthus found himself secretly hoping he still remembered how to shoot.
As they entered the main corridor off of their quarters, Trask and Lycanthus watched as a Republic soldier was gunned down in a hail of blaster fire, crumpling to the deck with his chest a burned, charred mess.
Trask growled in anger and rounding the corner he fired a trio of shots before ducking back into cover as the enemy replied in kind.
'Two Sith troopers, far end of the corridor.' said Trask. 'Right where we need to go.'
Risking a peek around the corner even as the Sith continued their barrage, Lycanthus saw the two troopers stood at the end of the corridor. Clad in metallic, plated armour polished to a high mirror sheen and worn over form-fitting black bodygloves with faces hidden behind black, one-way visors they gave off an intimidating almost inhuman appearance, no doubt something the Sith thought of when coming up with the design. Wielding their blaster rifles with all the ease of practiced veterans, they advanced implacably loosing shot after shot to keep the two servants of the Republic suppressed until they could close in for the kill. Lycanthus quickly withdrew back as a crimson blaster bolt seared through the space where his head had been an instant before.
'I take it there's no other route to the bridge?' he asked Trask, the Republic Ensign shaking his head.
'No. The Sith did a number on the ship before they boarded. Several sections of the ship are cut off due to structural damage and any other route would take us too long.'
Lycanthus sighed. Today just seemed to be getting better and better.
'Well then I guess we go through them.' he said after a moment. 'You think you can take one if I get the other?'
Trask looked almost insulted. 'I'm a Republic soldier, not some moisture farm militiaman. You take the one on the right, I'll get his friend on the left.'
Seeing Trask had the same idea in mind Lycanthus crouched down low and readied his blaster. 'Time to earn our pay then.' he said. 'We do get paid right?' he asked with a smirk but Trask, apparently a consummate professional didn't appreciate his levity.
Waiting until the Sith had advanced to within a few paces of their position, Lycanthus took a deep breath and exhaled.
'Now.' he said before he dived out into the corridor, keeping low as he put a pair of blaster bolts straight through the chest of the soldier to the right, the Sith falling back to the deck even as his comrade moved to fire on Lycanthus, only to be dispatched by a precision shot by Trask before he could pull the trigger.
Feeling his heart pound in his chest while his body surged with adrenaline, Lycanthus got to his feet with a hand up from Trask and without a word they started off down the corridor stepping over the bodies of the fallen troopers, though not before they picked up the Sith's rifles, reasoning they would need all the firepower they could lay their hands on.
Suddenly the communicator on Lycanthus' belt chimed as did Trask's.
Taking it in his free hand, the small holoscreen on the disk shaped device activated, the initial image one of static and distortion before it resolved to display a human male with dark hair and a light stubbly beard wearing a pilot's flight jacket.
'This is Carth Onasi. Sith are assaulting our position and we won't hold long before they overrun us. All hands double time to the bridge.'
The transmission ended as the man turned away from the display with a blaster in each hand and began to fire at enemies offscreen, the sound of a furious battle taking place in the background.
'If Carth Onasi say's things are bad you better believe it. We better hurry.' said Trask, taking off down the corridor at a run, Lycanthus following close behind.
As Trask had told him moments before he could see several of the adjacent and adjoining passages and corridors were blocked by debris or had collapsed outright due to structural failure from battle damage while many of the doors and hatches were damaged beyond all hope of opening. Utility and emergency repair droids moved about, tending to their programmed duties as best as they were able but Lycanthus knew they were fighting a losing battle much as the rest of the ship was. Thankfully the door at the far end still seemed operational and both men took up position at either side before opening it. Revealing a storage room, two Sith troopers were busy rifling through containers, looking for anything of value and didn't notice Lycanthus or Trask as they charged through the doorway and gunned them both down before they could so much as turn to face them. All across the deck lay discarded equipment of varying kinds, from ration packs and medkits to spare blaster cells and survival gear. Continuing on towards a door on the other side of the room, Lycanthus spotted some loose grenades atop a munitions crate and placed a few in his equipment satchel as Trask keyed in the access code.
The next corridor led on to a junction where a furious battle raged between a squad of Sith troopers and Republic soldiers with blasters and blades. One of the Republic soldiers was brutally cut down by a Sith trooper carrying a wicked double-bladed sword while another Republic soldiers was blown to shreds when the container he was stood next to was hit by a blaster bolt and exploded, the contents evidently of a volatile nature. In the smoke and haze the sword wielding Sith charged the remaining Republic soldiers even as his own comrades continued to fire from across the junction. Neither Lycanthus or Trask could get a clean shot on the Sith without risking hitting their own comrades and as they moved forwards Lycanthus saw one of the enemy soldiers across the way detach a small metallic sphere from his belt and launch it with an underarm throw, landing amongst the embattled Republic Squad to devastating effect as both they and the sword-wielding Sith were shredded by white-hot shrapnel.
Sickened by such ruthlessness, Trask and Lycanthus opened fire without a moment's hesitation, eager to exact vengeance for their comrades. One of the Sith went down almost atraight away as he was caught in their combined torrent of fire, his gleaming silver-white armour blackened and scorched in multiple places while the other two swiftly returned fire, unaware of the metallic sphere that hurtled through the thick haze of blaster discharge until it landed at the feet of one of the Sith who only managed to look down and register what he was seeing before it detonated, killing them both despite the protection offered by their armour. Trask put a round into the bodies of both just to make sure though Lycanthus couldn't help but think it a little unnecessary but he remained quiet on the matter.
Trask turned to him afterward. 'For an explorer you're handy in a fight I'll give you that.' said Trask. 'I guess the frontiers have their dangers just like any warzone.'
'Some of them ARE warzones if you happen to be unlucky enough.' said Lycanthus, some of his memories flooding back to him. He was a scout, hired by the Republic to chart the frontiers and unknown systems of the galaxy. He had been brought onboard as a mission specialist specializing in reconnaissance, the Jedi needing someone adept at going places and finding things they and the soldier's couldn't.
'Fair point.' said Trask before he pointed his blaster rifle towards a passageway that rose on a slight incline towards an armoured doorway. 'Come on, we're not far. The bridge is just up ahead.'
Reaching the door Lycanthus felt a sudden unease he couldn't explain as Trask punched the door release and as the door slid aside they were confronted by the fiercest fight they had seen yet.
Blue and red blades of pure energy flashed sparks as a Jedi Knight and a Dark Jedi engaged in a furious exchange that was difficult to even follow with the eyes, such was its intensity. The Jedi Knight, a woman clad in simple light coloured robes with dark hair fought a pale, bald headed man in black robes and a gleaming silver chestplate similar to those worn by the rank and file Sith Troopers.
Such was the ferocity of the duel, neither Lycanthus or Trask could render any assistance, in case they hit the Jedi in the crossfire. Lycanthus thought of the sword at his hip for a brief moment before he reminded himself that against a trained Dark Jedi he would be little more than an annoyance at best and possibly even a distraction for the Jedi Knight at worst and though it sat ill with him to remain idle he took solace in the fact that even a dutiful soldier like Trask seemed to draw the same conclusion and merely looked on as the duel continued though it was plain to see that he too wished desperately to come to the Jedi's aid.
The female Jedi seemed to be gaining the initiative though as she weaved, dodged and parried a furious series of blows by her opponent before she leapt over a bisecting cut, flipping fully over and bringing down her blade in a curving arc that the Dark Jedi barely countered, parrying the strike at the last moment but breaking his guard in the process, now giving the momentum fully to his opponent. She unleashed a flurry of blows that whittled away at his defences, the Dark Jedi's anger and frustration growing with each moment as he found his every move countered, every strike met by the Jedi with one of her own until she finally cut the Dark Jedi down with a two-handed strike that cut deep into his torso, his chestplate offering little protection against a weapon as advanced and deadly as a lightsaber.
Falling to his knees the Dark Jedi swayed for a moment looking up at his hated foe before he fell back to the deck. Yet before the Jedi Knight could enjoy her victory the Endar Spire was suddenly rocked again by incoming fire and a power conduit in the wall behind the Jedi sparked and arced electricity before blowing out in a brilliant flash of blue energy and plasma that threw her face first to the deck, the back of her body flashed cooked and smoldering. Rushing to her side, Trask and Lycanthus checked for a pulse but she was already gone.
'Please tell me that's not Bastila?' Lycanthus asked.
'Damn.' Trask cursed. 'No, it's one of Bastila's retinue but we still could have used her help.'
As they made to move on a hail of blaster bolts suddenly flew from an adjoining corridor that led to the ship's briefing room where two more Sith troopers emerged but they were both dispatched with little trouble as Trask and Lycanthus returned fire, though the Republic Ensign, caught by surprise in the sudden ambush now nursed a wound to his shoulder from where he had been hit in the exchange. Trask merely grunted and used a medpack to numb the pain as they finally reached the bridge's access door, the sounds of combat within easily audible even through the reinforced hatch and armoured bulkhead. Despite the firepower of his procured rifle, in the close confines of a starship's bridge it paid to be ready for melee and discarding his procured weapon he fell back on his pistol in one hand and drew his sword with the other.
Opening the hatch revealed the bridge, littered with the bodies of Republic soldiers and crewmen. A small party of marines fought with their backs to the forward viewport as a squad of Sith Troopers threw themselves forward with blades in hand, closing in for the kill. Lycanthus and Trask got the drop on the Sith at the rear of the bridge, stabbing two in the back and firing over the central console bank at two more, felling one and sending the other scrambling for cover. Visible through the viewports, a Sith interceptor came in close to strafe the bridge with its laser cannons and several of the reinforced viewports cracked as most of the forward consoles exploded, showering the bridge in flames, molten metal and violent electrical discharge, killing Republic and Sith alike. Lycanthus and Trask were blown from their feet by the explosion but apart from a few minor cuts caused by flying glass both men were thankfully unharmed.
As they got to their feet and surveyed the damage they realised they were now alone on the bridge, the only survivors of the strafing run.
Taking the opportunity to check what few displays and consoles remained, they told a grim review of the ship and its present situation. Most of the Endar Spire's critical systems were offline, deflectors, weapons, propulsion all apparently beyond repair according to the readouts and reports. Trask looked at the sensor display on a massive holopanel on the wall.
'We were supposed to meet a fleet of Republic warships in orbit of Taris, thousands of troops and two dozen Jedi. But as soon the Endar Spire dropped from hyperspace we were under fire from the Sith. No sign of our fleet as far as I can see.' said Trask. 'The Sith must have destroyed them before we got here.'
Lycanthus nodded. 'And they will destroy this ship too. It doesn't look like Bastila is here so if she hasn't been captured, or killed, then my guess is she's headed to the escape pods.'
'Agreed. There's nothing more we can do here anyway.' said Trask, headed for the unopened starboard bridge hatch, sparing a last look at his fallen comrades and a pang of sorrow evident upon his face.
Exiting the bridge they found no more Sith laying in wait but they kept their weapons to hand. Lycanthus especially felt it in the air, not just the danger of their situation, but actual imminent threat and as they came to the ship's security office he realized why. The room was littered with bodies both Sith, Republic and Jedi, both light and dark. There had been a hell of a fight here, but it had passed through, the trail of battle leading on further through another access hatch to the starboard side of the ship.
Across the room another door opened to reveal a figure in black armour, his skin pale, his eyes a bright radioactive yellow, filled with malice and unimaginable fury.
In his hand he clasped a lightsaber, deactivated but ready to be used at a moment's notice.
'Go, get out of here.' said Trask. Before Lycanthus could even react, Trask launched himself at the Sith Lord, shooting the door controls as he dived across the threshold blade first. The Dark Jedi activated his weapon, two crimson blades emerging from either end of his weapon's hilt an evil grin on his face at the prospect of violence but the door closed before Lycanthus could actually see them cross blades but he knew that Trask, a good soldier as he might have been was simply no match for a Sith Lord, and the suddeness of the man's sacrifice momentarily stunned him. Lycanthus was now alone but he resolved to make good on the soldier's sacrifice as he continued on towards the escape pods. He had had seen a planet through the viewscreens on the bridge, vast oceans with the continents covered in sprawling cityscapes. At least there was somewhere to escape to, if the escape pods weren't being shot down by the Sith as soon as they launched anyway.
Faced with staying on a disintegrating ship with untold numbers of Sith troopers and Dark Jedi or chancing the guns of a Sith fleet, neither was a particularly safe option, but at least one gave him a chance at survival whereas the other was a promise of death if he was lucky and unimaginable torture and suffering if he were captured though he would not let it come to that.
Continuing on following the trail of destruction, he used a map of the ship on his personal datapad to navigate his way to the escape pods. Luckily it seemed that the majority of the boarding parties had either been neutralized in the fighting or were at least elsewhere, allowing him to make good progress.
'This is Carth Onasi.' said a voice over his comlink, the Republic pilot he had seen earlier on holo, 'Bastila's escape pod is away. You and I are the last two crewmembers left on the Endar Spire.' Now he transmitted audio only.
'Lycanthus Kane.' he replied, taaking up the communicator. 'I'm on my way to the starboard-side escape pods now.'
'I've got you on internal sensors. You're not far and the good news there's one pod left. The bad news is there's a Sith Assault squad trying to batter down the door. I've erected a force-field but it won't hold for long.'
Picking up the pace, Lycanthus hurried down another body-strewn passageway, the walls and bulkheads scarred and pitted by weapons fire. Fires burned freely now throughout the ship and the air was thick with smoke and the ozone from discharged blasters. The ship's service and repair droids were still fighting their losing battle but could not be altered from their programming as many continued to try and extinguish the fires and initiate repairs even as they were engulfed in the infernos themselves, becoming molten piles of metal and fire-blackened components.
A Sith trooper came into view up ahead, seemingly looking among the corpses for anything of value. By the time he saw Lycanthus he was too close to miss, putting a blaster bolt through the trooper's chest, coming out his back hitting the bulkhead behind him.
'Force-field's beginning to buckle.' commed Carth. 'You need to find some way of evening the odds against that assault squad or they'll tear you apart the second you open the door.'
'Thank's for the head's up.' he replied. Looking on the map he saw a nearby droid storage bay, and considering the Endar Spire was a warship that gave him an idea as he quickly made a detour.
Sergeant Gymon watched as two of his men worked the door to the escape pod bay with a plasma cutter. Four more of his squad stood around the room, for the moment their attention solely focused on the hatch opposite just in case any more Republic scum thought to try and reach the escape pods. They had killed six so far, the look of horror on their faces as they realized there was no escape, moments before they were blasted was something to be cherished.
'Hurry. The Jedi bitch is getting away!' he barked at the soldiers working the door.
'Sorry, sir. It's this bloody force-field keeps shorting out the cutter.' said Private Ivates
Gymon shook his head and sighed, pulling a thermocrete detonator from his demolition's pouch.
'We've no more time. Lord Malak will blow this ship apart at any minute. Open the door with this.'
'Sir, we should just head back to the shut-' Ivates went to reply before Gymon stepped forward getting faceplate to faceplate with the trooper, seeing his own reflection mirrored upon the Private's armour, his own battleplste instead coloured a bright red to denote his status as an elite Shock Trooper.
'Set. The. Detonator.' he ordered, placing the powerful explosive in the trooper's hand. If he could capture any Jedi for Lord Malak he would be well rewarded and last reports were they had retreated to the escape pods. The thermocrete detonator would tear through the door easily enough, including anyone stood nearby when it went off. That was a risk, but a Jedi was still a useful prisoner minus a few limbs, surely?
Just as Ivates was about to key in the detonation sequence the hatch on the other side of the room opened and through it stepped an armoured war-droid clutching a heavy laser repeater. Torunn and Calizdya were mowed down before they could so much as let off a shot, Corporal Bienteh's shots rebounding off the droid's personal shields as it turned and almost blew him in two at the waist.
Gymon activated his own personal shield, pressing on the emitter on his wrist just as the droid redirected its fire at him. As a shock trooper his shield was certified against most small-arms and repeating blasters but the droid they fought was a well designed and efficient war machine, one of the Republic's more advanced models of bipedal battle droids. Gymon also noticed a man hiding behind the threshold, dressed in what was clearly not Republic standard issue, his dark brown hair and stubble beard also beyond regulation length.
The man loosed off a shot that clipped Private Ivate, sending him to the deck where the droid finished him mercilessly, blasting his corpse back against the door he had been trying to breach.
Gymon caught sight of the grenade as it left the man's hand, the blinking indicator atop the metal sphere signalling activation. His shield, weakened already wouldn't stand the full force of a detonation and he leaped to the side as the grenade hit the deck, blasting him further away still while consuming the other trooper at the door in a cloud of exploding shrapnel. Another of his squad fell back, perforated by blaster bolts and as Gymon got to his feet he pulled up his rifle.
'C'mon then you son of a-' he never finished his sentence as Sergeant Gymon of the Sith Empire Military Service was slayed by a volley of blaster fire from the wardoid and Lycanthus both, tearing through his armour like paper until he collapsed to the deck.
When the smoke finally settled, the room now hazy and reeking of ozone, the entire Assault Squad lay dead on the deck, no match for a Mk-7 heavy combat enforcer. Lycanthus had found it in the droid storage bay, deactivated for reapairs that had yet to be completed when the ship went on alert. All it had taken was a few replacement parts to get it back online. No self-respecting mechanic would say it was fully repaired but as battlefield repairs went it was some of his finest work, if done in a little bit of haste. He was especially proud of getting the shields working again, that had definitely been a boon.
Taking the communicator from his belt, Lycanthus walked over to the door and knocked three times.
'It's me. We're all clear. For now.' he commed and a moment later the door opened.
Thankfully his repairs to the droid had been thorough enough to make sure the droid identified Carth as friendly as it merely walked off back down the hallway in search of further hostiles, leaving the two men behind as it sought to fufil it's programming.
'Impressive work.' said Cart. 'Like I said Bastila's away so there's nothing stopping the Sith from blowing this ship to hell, so let's go.'
Deciding to leave proper introductions until they were out of immediate danger they approached the last escape pod in its berth. As the hatch opened Lycanthus saw there would have been plenty of space for Trask and more besides.
'After you.' said Carth. The man gave off an air of calm even now in such a desperate moment, as if he had faced much worse in his time. But deciding that like introductions, questions were best left for when they weren't facing atomisation Lycanthus climbed into the pod, followed by Carth who shut the hatch behind him and locked it before sitting in one of the many empty restraint chairs and began to manipulate the central pilot console.
'Hang on. I'm overriding the launch safeties to gives us more acceleration as we leave the ship.' said Carth.
Lycanthus busied himself putting on the restraint harness. 'Is that safe?'
Carth shrugged. 'Not really but an escape pod is easy pickings for a Sith Interceptor, so...'
'Noted.'
Hearing the airlock seal shut, Lycanthus heard the pod's boosters beginning to heat up.
The Endar Spire now rocked and shook in a gut-wrenching fashion, the Sith obviously engaging in a final bombardment and Lycanthus looked expectantly over at the Republic pilot at the controls. 'Now might not be a bad time.'
'Not yet.' replied Carth. 'Boosters still charging. We'll be coming out the tube like a torpedo.'
'Those have a tendency to explode when they land, don't they?' Lycanthus said as the whine of the engines grew to a very high, ear-splitting pitch.
Carth shrugged. 'Good point. We should be okay though. Hopefully.'
Suddenly he began to wonder if he was better off on the Endar Spire after all.
'Now.' Carth shouted over the engines as he punched the booster activation and both were pinned to their seats by acceleration as the escape pod tore away from the Endar Spire moments before a final bombardment shattered her remaining armour and gutted the ship leaving it a burning wreck in the void.
A few interceptors peeled off to try and follow the pod but soon realised it went far beyond even their crafts' considerable speed and so settled for logging the trajectory before turning back to their respective base-ships.
Hopefully it would allow their comrades occupying Taris to catch them when the pod landed. Despite their best efforts several pods had slipped through to Taris, though a handful had been disabled and even now were being tractored into launch bays on the slim chance they contained any Jedi, perhaps even the famed Bastila herself.
It didn't take long for Carth and Lycanthus' pod to reach Taris' atmosphere, burning downward on a fiery contrail towards the heart of one of the continent spanning cities. Interceptors and recovery shuttles were already underway as the pod slashed across the dawn sky, barely passing in the gap between two mega-scrapers as it came in to land on a long promenade opposite a tall run down tenement tower, one of dozens in the district, gouging a deep furrow in the metal walkway as it eventually came to a halt, still smoking from the heat of atmospheric entry.
Carth kicked the pod's side hatch open, coughing as smoke billowed out into the open air. Hauling an unconscious Lycanthus up, the scout having took a blow to the head during their rather rocky landing, he lowered the man out of the hatch and then climbed out himself. No one was around though Carth knew that everyone in the district including the Sith would have seen the pod's arrival and he needed to get them both off the street as quickly as possible. Seeing little choice, he grabbed Lycanthus and threw him over his shoulders before running for the tenement block as the sound of sirens began to make themselves known in the distance.
By the time the first group of Sith, a nearby foot patrol got to the pod both men were long gone, lost among the thousands of alien and human denizens that called the tower home.